Republican congressional leaders will accompany President Donald Trump to Camp David Friday afternoon for a weekend retreat, part of which will focus on addressing the challenges facing the party in the 2018 midterm elections.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy will lead the Friday afternoon briefing on the 2018 landscape, three people briefed on the matter told Politico. The briefing, which will also be attended by House Speaker Paul Ryan, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, will be followed by a slate of meetings related to Trump’s upcoming legislative agenda.
GOP leadership will undoubtedly address the numerous political warning signs that emerged over the latter months of 2017, namely, Trump’s record low approval rating, the party’s falling numbers among women and suburban, college educated Republicans and soaring Democratic turnout.
Special congressional elections in Georgia and Alabama, and the Virginia gubernatorial race collectively revealed the combination of increased Democratic turnout spurred by animus toward Trump, in combination with the mass departure of college educated and female Republicans.
Trump’s eventual full throated endorsement of Republican Alabama Senate candidate and accused child molester Roy Moore proved particularly costly for the party’s appeal with women. Republican National Committee Leader Ronna Romney McDaniel reportedly cautioned Trump against endorsing Moore, citing a two-page memo detailing the party’s declining support among women and arguing the endorsement exacerbate the issue. (RELATED: RNC Warned Trump The Party Is Losing Women In Massive Numbers)
In the wake of the Moore endorsement, the percentage of women who approve of Trump’s performance fell 12 percent from September when 36 percent of women approved, according to a Monmouth poll released in early December. Perhaps more concerning for Republicans, Trump’s approval rating among Republican women fell 9 percent during the same period.
The most precipitous drop occurred among Independent women, whose support for the President fell by 25 points since mid-September, bottoming out at just 14 percent approval.
“This result is not good for the president, especially coming off the loss of his endorsed candidate in the Alabama Senate race,” Monmouth University Polling Institute director Patrick Murray said in a statement, referencing Moore’s unprecedented defeat.
“Republicans have to be worried about being dragged down by the weight of Trump’s negatives in 2018 if this trend continues,” Murray added.
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